which Schwalbe tyres for my 650b cannondale scalpel?

[fivethirtyonepm]

just about to order the wheels.

my tyre choices are as follows:-

thunder burts front and rear
thunder burts snakeskin front and rear
racing ralphs evo pacestar front and rear
rocket rons evo pacestay front and rear
rocket ron front / racing ralph rear

i know that a 2.1" rocket ron is a squeeze on the back, so i am thinking racing ralph (unless i go with thunder burts)

at the moment i am thinking of a 2.1" rocket ron on the front (as these tend to blow up quite large) and a 2.1" racing ralph out back.

if i go thunder burt, the lightweight ones are tempting but i hear they are VERY think and prone to rips. If I go for the snakeskin variant, i might as well go for the roro/rara combo.

the objective it go as light as possible. i will be running tubeless. i'm not bothered about fast wear as i don't use the bike a huge amount and i'm happy with summer low-tread tyres.

what say ye?

[DanW]

Burt carcass is the same as the Ron carcass, no? They certainly feel very similar and both thinner than Ralphs

[AdyM]

If you aren't bothered about super fast wear and are happy with low tread then go for the super light burts. Or maybe a super light burt on the back with a higher pressure and maybe a RaRa on the front for a bit more protection. The burts need a few more psi to protect what is a super filmsy side wall. They could also be a challenge to seat and seal tubeless. So I wouldn't recommend a burt on the front.

[kenz76]

RoRo 2.1 SS on front, ThBu 2.1 SS on the back wheel

Is RaRa 2.1 any smaller then 2.1RoRo? Ron is really tight on back wheel of Scalpel...

[woz9683]

RaRa is really tight too, I don't have a picture at the moment, but it's only a couple of mm clearance.

Snakeskin Burts are still lighter than Snakeskin RoRo/RaRa, so its still a weight savings, just not the absolute lightest combo.

I just got in Snakeskin and standard Burts, gonna put on the standards for now and see how they hold up.

I currently have RoRo front, RaRa rear.

[DanW]

Judging by the paint taken of the seatstay bridge on a friends Scalpel after a 650B experiment in conditions with barely any mud I can't see 650B working all that well although I know some people stick with it regardless. It's too muddy in the UK and the clearance is too tight for me to try 650B on my Scalpel... at least on the rear. If you have a Lefty then you can do what you like with the front tyre but a 650B/ 26 combo seems very, very wrong too

[woz9683]

What tire was your friend trying?

[DanW]

Fairly sure it was a 2.1 Ralph (it was before Burts were available) and I think it was manageable in bone dry conditions but the slightest bit of mud sticking to the tyre wore away all of the paint around the seatstay bridge really quickly. Don't fancy giving it a go myself!